Sean Brown

March 8, 2014Northern California couple found $10 million worth of rare gold coins in the back yard buried in cans. Such a find would make anyone happy, especially since the coins were so rare that some are worth up to a million a piece. They’re not too excited, however, since apparently the government will be taking half of their find, even if they don’t sell the coins.

Such a find is taxable under a 1969 federal court ruling that held a “treasure trove” is taxable the year it was discovered. Apparently if you find something that doesn’t belong to you that has been lost or abandoned then the government may tax it at its ‘fair market value’ up to the first year it’s yours without anybody contesting it, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

The Chronicle also said that the find will be taxed at the top rate for both state and federal tax brackets, meaning the couple will never even see about 47% of what they found.

Although one accountant did say that they can contest the tax claim since the gold was on their property when they bought it, making it their rightful possession.

The face value of the 1,427 coins was roughly $27,000 however to collectors some are worth much more and could fetch up to $1 million a piece, according to David Hall who helped found Professional Coin Grading Service of Santa Ana.

An accountant told the paper that the couple can try to fight the tax and claim it was there when they bought the property.

The couple is choosing to remain anonymous to avoid modern day prospectors from showing up to their property with metal detectors and searching for more buried treasure.